Designer Dakota Jackson Wins Award from Academy of Art University

January 4, 2012

By Ian Volner

Dakota Jackson
, designer, furniture builder, and all-around high-end lifestyle entrepreneur, received honors from San Francisco's
Academy of Art University
(AAU) in recognition of his nearly four decades in the interiors business. The Design Icon Award, the first ever from AAU, was presented during a special evening event last month. Dr. Elisa Stephens, president of AAU, said of Jackson's work that his "unique perspective [is] a consistent inspiration to our students as they prepare for careers in design either in the US or internationally... We are delighted that he [came] to accept this award and to speak with our students." Stephens and AAU also announced that the Design Icons award will become an annual fixture of the school's calendar—a development that ought to be of some significance in the design world: AAU, with a student body fully 18,000 strong, is the largest accredited private art and design school in the United States. The prize will be judged and given out under the auspices of the university's School of Interior Architecture and Design. Jackson, who maintains showrooms in New York and Los Angeles, is perhaps best known for his mechanical-yet-organic
Library Chair
, a popular fixture of institutional interiors since it first debuted in 1991.